Navigation Menu For The Summary

The difference between the nafs and the ruh

Meanings of the word nafs

Meanings of the word ruh

Are the soul (nafs) and the spirit (ruh) one or two realities

Is the soul (nafs) one or many

Are there multiple spirits (arwah) or one spirit (ruh)

Conclusion

Navigation Menu For Ibn Kathir’s Tafsir Of The Ayah – They ask you ˹O Prophet˺ about the spirit. Say, “Its nature is known only to my Lord, and you ˹O humanity˺ have been given but little knowledge.” (Surah Isra 85)

Ibn Kathir mentioning the differing between the mufasireen on the meaning of Spirit

First view – the spirits of the children of Adam

Second view – that the spirit is Jibril

Third view – that the spirit is a mighty angel

Report from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib regarding the spirit

Further reports mentioned by al Suhayli

Meaning of “the spirit is from the command of my Lord”

The example of Musa and al Khidr

Discussion of whether the question was answered

The relationship between the spirit and the self

Passages From Ibn Al Qayyim In Kitāb al-Rūḥ On The Topic Of Nafs & Ruh

Is The Nafs And The Ruh One Or Two

Ibn Al Qayyim says the word nafs in the Qur’an is used for the whole person, in the Qur’an

It is also used for the ruh alone in the Qur’an

On Whether The Nafs Is One Or Three

Summary

The difference between the nafs and the ruh

Ibn al Qayyim رحمه الله discusses whether the nafs and the ruh are one reality or two, and whether the human being has one nafs and one ruh or many. He gathers the sayings of the ulama and then gives a clear conclusion.

Meanings of the word nafs

Ibn al Qayyim explains first that the word nafs is used in several ways.

Sometimes nafs is used with the meaning of ruh. Al Jawhari said, “The nafs is the ruh. It is said, ‘His nafs departed’.” He quotes the verse of poetry:

نجا سالمٌ والنفسُ منهُ بِشِدْقِهِ
ولم ينجُ إلا جَفْنُ سيفٍ ومِنْزَرَا

“Salim escaped, while his nafs left from his mouth,
and nothing escaped except the edge of a sword and Minzar.”

(This is how it appears in as Sihah and in as Sahabi by Ibn Faris 135. Ibn al Bari noted that the verse is by Hudhayfah ibn Anas al Hudhali. See Sharh Ashar al Hudhaliyyin 558.)

Sometimes nafs is used for blood. It is said, “His nafs flowed,” meaning his blood. From this is the report, “Whatever does not have flowing nafs does not make the water impure if it dies in it.” (an Nihayah by Ibn al Athir 96/5. See also Gharib al Hadith by Ibn Qutaybah 1/355, az Zahir by Ibn al Anbari 233/2, Tahdhib al Lughah 13/12, Zad al Maʿad 4/112.)

Sometimes nafs is used for the body. The poet said:

نُبْتُ أَنَّ بَنِي سُحَيْمٍ أَدْخَلُوا
بُيُوتَهُمْ تَامُورَ نَفْسِ الْمُنْذِرِ

“I knew that the sons of Suhaym had brought
into their houses the core of the nafs of al Mundhir.”

Tamur here means blood. (This is Aws ibn Hajar, from verses in which he urges ʿAmr ibn Hind to seek revenge for his father al Mundhir ibn Maʾ al Sama. See Diwan Aws 47.)

Sometimes nafs is used for the evil eye. It is said, “So and so was struck by nafs,” meaning he was struck by the evil eye. Ibn al Qayyim explains that the one who truly strikes is the ruh of the one who gives the evil eye, and attaching it to the eye is broad usage, because the effect appears through the gaze.

In the Qur’an, nafs is used for the whole person, as in His saying:

فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ
“Then greet one another with a greeting of peace.” (an Nur 61)

وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ
“And do not kill yourselves.” (an Nisa 29)

يَوْمَ تَأْتِي كُلُّ نَفْسٍ تُجَادِلُ عَن نَّفْسِهَا
“The Day when every soul will come, arguing in defence of itself.” (an Nahl 111)

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ
“Every soul is held in pledge for what it has earned.” (al Mudaththir 38)

It is also used for the ruh alone, as in:

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ
“O tranquil soul.” (al Fajr 27)

أَخْرِجُوا أَنفُسَكُمُ
“Bring out your souls.” (al Anʿam 93)

وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَى
“And restrains the soul from desire.” (an Naziʿat 40)

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ
“Indeed the soul certainly commands to evil.” (Yusuf 53)

So nafs can mean the person, the blood, the body, the one struck by the evil eye, and also the ruh itself.

Meanings of the word ruh

The word ruh is never used for the body, neither on its own nor together with nafs.

Ruh is used for the Qur’an that Allah sent down to His Messenger ﷺ, as in His saying:

وَكَذَٰلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِّنْ أَمْرِنَا
“And so We have revealed to you a spirit from Our command.” (ash Shura 52)

It is also used for the revelation He casts upon the prophets:

يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ لِيُنذِرَ يَوْمَ التَّلَاقِ
“He casts the spirit from His command upon whom He wills from His servants, so that he may warn about the Day of Meeting.” (Ghafir 15)

يُنَزِّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ بِالرُّوحِ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ أَنْ أَنْذِرُوا أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاتَّقُونِ
“He sends down the angels with the spirit from His command upon whom He wills from His servants: that you must warn that there is no god but I, so be mindful of Me.” (an Nahl 2)

It is called ruh because through it true life is obtained. Life without this is like the life of a dumb animal, even worse in outcome.

The ruh that gives life to the body is called so from the same root as rih and istirahah, because life and relief are connected to it. The plural arwah is from a root with waw, as in the verse:

إِذَا هَبَّتِ الأَرْوَاحُ مِنْ نَحْوِ أَرْضِكُمْ
بِهَا أَهْلُ مِيٍّ هَاجَ شَوْقِي هُبُوبُهَا

“If the arwah blow from the direction of your land
where the people of my love dwell, their breeze stirs my longing.”

(This line is from Dhu r Rummah. See his Diwan 694, an Nukat wal Uyun 1/217, Durat al Ghawwas 190.)

So ruh is used for the created spirit in the body, for revelation, for the Qur’an, and for special support given by Allah.

Are the soul (nafs) and the spirit (ruh) one or two realities

People differed about whether nafs and ruh are one or two.

Many said that both names refer to one reality, and these are the majority. Others said they are two different things.

Some ulama explained the difference as a difference of description.

Some said: the nafs is earthy and fiery, and the ruh is luminous and belongs to the unseen realm.

Others said: the ruh is from the realm of loftiness and the nafs from the realm of humanness, and creation is tested by it.

Some said: the nafs exists by the ruh, and the nafs is the form of the person in which desire and trial are mixed.

The nafs loves this life and leans to it, while the ruh calls to the next life and prefers it. Shaytan is with the nafs and desire, the angel is with the mind, and Allah supports both sides with inspiration and success.

Others said: the arwah are from the command of Allah, and He has hidden their reality from creation. Others said: the arwah are light from the light that Allah gives, and life from the life He grants.

Ibn al Qayyim then gives his clear conclusion. He says that the ruh which is taken at death and seized is one ruh, and that this is the nafs. It is one essence. The difference between nafs and ruh is a difference of attribute and state, not a difference of separate substances.

Because the nafs pours out at death, and the blood pours out with it, the blood itself came to be called nafs, since life depends on both. So it is said, “His nafs overflowed,” just as it is said, “His ruh departed.”

The word nafs is also linked to nafis, which means something precious, because of its nobility and value, or to tanaffus, the going out of breath. Every time a person sleeps, his nafs goes out in a partial way and returns when he wakes.

At death it goes out completely. When he is buried, it returns for questioning, then leaves, then returns again at resurrection.

So the thing which is seized, taken, punished or blessed is one created essence, which is named nafs in some states and ruh in others. The distinction is one of description and relation, not of two separate created souls.

Is the soul (nafs) one or many

Ibn al Qayyim then moves to the question of how many nufus the human has.

Many people say that the son of Adam has three nufus: a tranquil nafs, a blaming nafs and a nafs that commands to evil. They say that people differ according to which of these dominates them. They use as evidence His sayings:

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ
“O tranquil soul.” (al Fajr 27)

وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ﴿١﴾ وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ
“I swear by the Day of Resurrection, and I swear by the blaming soul.” (al Qiyamah 1–2)

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ
“Indeed the soul certainly commands to evil.” (Yusuf 53)

Ibn al Qayyim concludes that the correct view is that it is one nafs which is described with different attributes according to its state.

It is called tranquil when it finds rest with its Lord through worship, love, turning back, reliance, contentment and stillness with Him. It is called blaming when it reproaches itself for its shortcomings. It is called commanding to evil when desires dominate it and it drives its owner towards sin.

So the multiplicity lies in descriptive states and names, not in separate souls.

He explains that tranquillity with Allah is a state that He sends into the heart of His servant. It gathers him upon Allah, brings back his wandering heart, and makes him as if he is sitting before his Lord, hearing by Him, seeing by Him and moving by Him.

That tranquillity spreads through his nafs, his heart, his limbs, his apparent and hidden powers, until his ruh is drawn towards Allah and his whole being becomes soft towards serving and drawing near to Him.

This tranquillity cannot be found except with Allah and His remembrance. His remembrance is His speech that He sent down upon His Messenger ﷺ. Allah says:

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۗ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ
“Those who believe and whose hearts find tranquillity in the remembrance of Allah; indeed, in the remembrance of Allah hearts find tranquillity.” (ar Raʿd 28)

The tranquillity of the heart is its stillness and rest, its stability through the removal of anxiety and disturbance.

This cannot be obtained through anything other than Allah and His remembrance. Whatever is besides Him, if the heart rests in it, that rest is deception and weakness.

Faith in the Hereafter is tied to this kind of tranquillity. Allah says:

وَبِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ
“And they are certain of the Hereafter.” (al Baqarah 4)

True certainty is when the heart finds tranquillity with what Allah has informed about the Hereafter, like its tranquillity towards what it sees and does not doubt. This is the reality of belief in the Last Day.

Ibn al Qayyim mentions the report of al Harithah, who said, “I woke in the morning as a true believer.” The Prophet ﷺ said, “Every truth has a reality, so what is the reality of your belief?” He said, “I have turned my nafs away from the universe and its people.

It is as if I see the Throne of my Lord clearly, as if I see the people of Paradise visiting one another in it, and as if I see the people of the Fire being punished in it.” He said, “This is a servant whose heart Allah has filled with light.” (Reported with various chains. See Musnad al Bazzar 6948, Shuʿab al Iman by al Bayhaqi 10589, 10592, Majmaʿ az Zawaʾid 1/57, al Isabah 2/394, and the notes of al Iraqi in al Mughni 3991.)

Through this, Ibn al Qayyim shows what it means for the nafs to become tranquil, and that these names refer to one nafs in different states.

Are there multiple spirits (arwah) or one spirit (ruh)

Ibn al Qayyim also records sayings about multiple arwah.

Muqatil ibn Sulayman said that the human has life, a ruh and a nafs. When he sleeps, the nafs that he does actions by goes out without the body being left. It goes out like a cord stretched out that has a light. By this nafs he sees dreams, while life and ruh remain in the body, so he turns and breathes. If he is to wake, it returns to him faster than the blink of an eye. If Allah wants to cause him to die in his sleep, He holds back that nafs. He also said that when it rises and sees a dream, it returns and informs the ruh, and the ruh informs the heart, so he knows in the morning what he saw. (This resembles what Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Ibn Abbas, that in a person there is a nafs and a ruh, between them is something like the ray of the sun. As Suyuti transmitted it in Sharh as Sudur 416.)

Abu ʿAbd Allah Ibn Mandah transmitted several positions. Some said: the ruh is other than the nafs, and the nafs is other than the ruh. The nafs exists through the ruh, and the nafs is the human form in which desire, appetite and trial are mixed. No enemy is more harmful to the son of Adam than his own nafs. The nafs only wants this life and loves only it, while the ruh calls to the next life and prefers it. Desire is attached to the nafs, and shaytan is with the nafs and desire, and the angel is with the mind. Allah supports both with His inspiration and success.

Some said: the arwah do not die and do not decay. Some said: the arwah are in the forms of their possessors, with hands, feet, eyes, hearing, sight and tongues. Some said: the believer has three arwah and the hypocrite and disbeliever have one ruh. Some said: the arwah are subtle spiritual beings from the unseen realm, and when they become pure they return to that unseen realm.

Conclusion

After reading these passages from the Imam Ibn al Qayyim. We know that he says that as for the ruh that is taken at death and seized, it is one ruh, which is the nafs. This is the soul that leaves at death, is questioned, punished or blessed, and returns in the states of barzakh and resurrection.

As for the ruh by which Allah supports His friends, that is another ruh, different from the first. Allah says:

أُولَٰئِكَ كَتَبَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَأَيَّدَهُم بِرُوحٍ مِّنْهُ
“They are those in whose hearts He has written faith, and He has supported them with a spirit from Him.” (al Mujadilah 22)

Likewise the ruh with which He supported His servant and messenger ʿIsa عليه السلام, as in His saying:

إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ اذْكُرْ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَتِكَ إِذْ أَيَّدتُّكَ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ
“When Allah said: O Isa, son of Maryam, remember My favour upon you and upon your mother, when I supported you with Ruh al Qudus.” (al Maidah 110)

Likewise the ruh that He casts upon whom He wills from His servants, mentioned in the verses of Ghafir and an Nahl, is other than the ruh that is in the body.

He also mentions that the powers in the body are called arwah, such as the seeing ruh, the hearing ruh and the smelling ruh. These are powers placed in the organs and they perish with the body. They are different from the ruh that does not decay with the decay of the body.

He uses the word ruh for something even more specific: the inner power of knowing Allah, turning to Him, loving Him and having the resolve to seek and desire Him. The relation of this higher ruh to the lower ruh is like the relation of the lower ruh to the body.

When a person loses this higher ruh, he is like a dead body whose ruh has left. This is the ruh by which Allah supports the people of His friendship and obedience.

Because of this, people say, “So and so has ruh in him,” meaning this inner life, and, “So and so has no ruh in him,” meaning he is empty inside, like a hollow reed.

To put it simply,

• The human being has one created soul which is both nafs and ruh in essence, with different names according to its attributes and states.
• This one nafs has different states named tranquil, blaming and commanding to evil, but it remains one nafs.
• The word ruh is used more widely for several kinds of life and support: the soul in the body, the Qur’an, revelation, the supporting ruh from Allah, Ruh al Qudus, the inner spiritual life of knowing and loving Allah, and the bodily powers that are called arwah by extension.

Ibn al Qayyim gathers the sayings, then affirms that the essence of the human soul is one, while its names and descriptions vary according to its attributes, states and relations.

Full Article

Ibn Kathir mentioning the differing between the mufasireen on the meaning of Spirit

First view – the spirits of the children of Adam

One view is that what is meant by the spirit is the spirits of the children of Adam.

Al ʿAwfi narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas concerning His saying “And they ask you about the spirit”. He said that the Jews said to the Prophet ﷺ, Tell us about the spirit. How is the spirit that is in the body punished, when the spirit is from Allah?

At that time, nothing had been sent down to him about it, so he did not give them any answer. Then Jibril came to him and said to him, “Say: The spirit is from the command of my Lord, and you have not been given of knowledge except a little.”

The Prophet ﷺ informed them of this. They said, Who brought this to you? He said, Jibril brought it to me from Allah.

They said to him, By Allah, only an enemy of ours said this to you. So Allah sent down, “Say: Whoever is an enemy to Jibril, then indeed he brought it down upon your heart by the permission of Allah, confirming what came before it” (al Baqarah 97).

Second view – that the spirit is Jibril

It was also said that what is meant by the spirit here is Jibril. This was said by Qatadah. He said that Ibn ʿAbbas used to conceal this view.

Third view – that the spirit is a mighty angel

It was also said that what is meant here is a mighty angel, equal in size to all creation. ʿAli ibn Abi Talhah narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas concerning His saying “And they ask you about the spirit”. He said, The spirit is an angel.

Al Tabarani said: Muhammad ibn ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUrs al Misri narrated to us. Wahb ibn Rizq Abu Hurayrah narrated to us. Bishr ibn Bakr narrated to us. Al Awzaʿi narrated to us. ʿAtaʾ narrated from ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say, Allah has an angel. If it were said to him, Swallow the seven heavens and the seven earths in one mouthful, he would do so. His glorification is, Glory be to You wherever You are.

This hadith is strange, rather it is rejected.

Report from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib regarding the spirit

Abu Jaʿfar ibn Jarir (At Tabari), may Allah have mercy on him, said: ʿAli narrated to me. ʿAbd Allah narrated to us. Abu Numran Yazid ibn Samrah, the companion of Qaysariyyah, narrated to me from someone who narrated to him from ʿAli ibn Abi Talib رضي الله عنه, that he said concerning His saying “And they ask you about the spirit”.

He said, It is an angel from among the angels. He has 70000 faces. For each face there are 70000 tongues. For each tongue there are 70000 languages. He glorifies Allah with all of those languages. From every glorification, Allah creates an angel who flies with the angels until the Day of Resurrection.

This report is strange and astonishing, and Allah knows best.

Further reports mentioned by al Suhayli

Al Suhayli said: It is narrated from ʿAli that he said, It is an angel who has 100000 heads. For each head there are 100000 faces. In every face there are 100000 mouths. In every mouth there are 100000 tongues. He glorifies Allah in different languages.

Al Suhayli said: It was also said that what is meant by that is a group of angels in the form of the children of Adam.

It was also said that they are a group who see the angels, while the angels do not see them. They are to the angels as the angels are to the children of Adam.

Meaning of “the spirit is from the command of my Lord”

His saying “Say: The spirit is from the command of my Lord” means from His affair, and from that which He has kept knowledge of for Himself, excluding you.

For this reason He said, “And you have not been given of knowledge except a little”, meaning that He has only made known to you a small amount of His knowledge. No one encompasses anything of His knowledge except what He wills, blessed and exalted is He.

The meaning is that your knowledge, when compared to the knowledge of Allah, is little. What you are asking about, concerning the affair of the spirit, is from that which He has kept to Himself, and He has not made you aware of it, just as He has only made you aware of a small part of His knowledge.

The example of Musa and al Khidr

In the story of Musa and al Khidr, that al Khidr looked at a bird that landed on the edge of the ship and dipped its beak into the sea, taking a sip.

He said, O Musa, my knowledge and your knowledge and the knowledge of all creation, in comparison to the knowledge of Allah, is nothing but like what this bird has taken from this sea, or words to that effect.

For this reason, blessed and exalted is He said, “And you have not been given of knowledge except a little”.

Discussion of whether the question was answered

Al Suhayli said: Some people said that He did not answer them about what they asked because they asked in a manner of stubborn challenge. It was also said that He did answer them.

Al Suhayli leaned towards the view that what is meant by His saying “Say: The spirit is from the command of my Lord” is from His Sharia, meaning, enter into it.

You already know that there is no way to know this through fitrah or philosophy. Rather, it is only attained through the Sharia. This path that he took and followed has weakness in it, and Allah knows best.

The relationship between the spirit and the self

Then al Suhayli mentioned the disagreement among the ulama over whether the spirit is the same as the self or something other than it. He concluded that it is a subtle entity, like air, flowing through the body as water flows through the veins of trees.

He also concluded that the spirit which the angel breathes into the foetus is the self, on the condition that it becomes connected to the body and acquires through it attributes of praise or blame. Thus it is either a tranquil self or a self that commands to evil.

He said: Just as water is the life of trees, then because of its mixing with them it acquires a specific name. If it connects to grapes and is pressed from them, it becomes either juice or wine, and it is no longer called water except figuratively. In the same way, the self is not called spirit except in this sense, and the spirit is not called self except in view of what it turns into.

The summary of what he says is that the spirit is the origin of the self and its substance, and the self is composed of it and of its connection to the body. It is the same from one angle, but not from every angle. This is a good meaning, and Allah knows best.

People have spoken at length about the reality of the spirit and its rulings, and they have authored books on that. Among the best of those who spoke on it is al Hafidh Ibn Mandah, in a book that we heard, called “The Spirit.”

Passages From Ibn Al Qayyim In Kitāb al-Rūḥ On The Matter

Is The Nafs And The Ruh One Or Two

As for this issue, it is whether the nafs and the ruh are one and the same, or whether they are two different things. People have differed about this. Some say that both names refer to one reality, and these are the majority. Others say that they are two distinct things. We will uncover the reality of this issue, by the help and power of Allah.

The word nafs is used for a number of meanings.

The first of them is the ruh. Al Jawhari said: “The nafs is the ruh. It is said: ‘His nafs departed.’” Abu Kharash said:

نجا سالمٌ والنفسُ منهُ بِشِدْقِهِ
ولم ينجُ إلا جَفْنُ سيفٍ ومِنْزَرَا

“Salim escaped, while his nafs left from his mouth,
and nothing escaped except the edge of a sword and Minzar.”

That is, by the edge of a sword and Minzar. (This is how it appears in as Sihah and in as Sahabi by Ibn Faris 135. Ibn al Bari pointed out in his marginal notes on as Sihah 307/2 that the verse is by Hudhayfah Ibn Anas al Hudhali. See Sharh Ashar al Hudhaliyyin 558. All copies except B and J have “the sons of Tamim”. They thought it was a description of the one who escaped, and this is a mistake. “Salim” is Salim Ibn Amir Ibn Arib al Kinani.)

The nafs is also used for blood. It is said: “His nafs flowed,” meaning his blood flowed. In the hadith: “Whatever does not have flowing nafs does not make the water impure if it dies in it.” (He means the report from an Nakha’i, as in an Nihayah by Ibn al Athir 96/5, and it is from his own words. See Gharib al Hadith by Ibn Qutaybah 1/355, az Zahir by Ibn al Anbari 233/2, Tahdhib al Lughah 13/12, and Zad al Ma’ad 4/112.)

The nafs is also used for the body. The poet said:

نُبْتُ أَنَّ بَنِي سُحَيْمٍ أَدْخَلُوا
بُيُوتَهُمْ تَامُورَ نَفْسِ الْمُنْذِرِ

“I knew that the sons of Suhaym had brought
into their houses the core of the nafs of al Mundhir.”

The tamur is the blood. (This is Aws Ibn Hajar, from verses in which he urges Amr Ibn Hind to seek revenge for the killers of his father al Mundhir Ibn Ma al Sama. See Diwan Aws 47. All the copies have “the sons of Tamim”. The correction is taken from as Sihah and from the Diwan.)

The nafs is also used for the evil eye. It is said: “So and so was struck by nafs,” meaning he was struck by the evil eye. I say: it is not as he said. Rather the nafs here is the ruh. Attributing the striking to the eye is broad usage, because it happens through the gaze that affects. The one who truly strikes is the nafs of the one who gives the evil eye, as has already been mentioned.

Ibn Al Qayyim says the word nafs in the Qur’an is used for the whole person, in the Qur’an

فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِكُمْ ۝
“Then greet one another with a greeting of peace.” (an Nur 61)

And His saying:

وَلَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ ۝
“And do not kill yourselves.” (an Nisa 29)

And His saying:

يَوْمَ تَأْتِي كُلُّ نَفْسٍ تُجَادِلُ عَنْ نَّفْسِهَا ۝
“The Day when every nafs will come, arguing in defence of itself.” (an Nahl 111)

And His saying:

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ ۝
“Every nafs is held in pledge for what it has earned.” (al Mudaththir 38)

It is also used for the ruh alone, in the Qur’an

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ۝
“O tranquil nafs.” (al Fajr 27)

And His saying:

أَخْرِجُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ ۝
“Bring out your nufus.” (al An’am 93)

And His saying:

وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَى ۝
“And restrains the nafs from desire.” (an Nazi’at 40)

And His saying:

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ ۝
“Indeed the nafs certainly commands to evil.” (Yusuf 53)

As for the word ruh, it is not used for the body, neither on its own nor together with the nafs.

The ruh is also used for the Qur’an that Allah, the Exalted, sent down to His Messenger. He, the Most High, said:

وَكَذَلِكَ أَوْحَيْنَا إِلَيْكَ رُوحًا مِّنْ أَمْرِنَا ۝
“And so We have revealed to you a ruh from Our command.” (ash Shura 52)

It is also used for the revelation that He sends to His prophets and messengers. He, the Most High, said:

يُلْقِي الرُّوحَ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ لِيُنذِرَ يَوْمَ التَّلَاقِ ۝
“He casts the ruh from His command upon whom He wills from His servants, so that he may warn about the Day of Meeting.” (Ghafir 15)

And He said:

يُنَزِّلُ الْمَلَائِكَةَ بِالرُّوحِ مِنْ أَمْرِهِ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَاءُ مِنْ عِبَادِهِ أَنْ أَنْذِرُوا أَنَّهُ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا أَنَا فَاتَّقُونِ ۝
“He sends down the angels with the ruh from His command upon whom He wills from His servants: that you must warn that there is no god but I, so be mindful of Me.” (an Nahl 2)

He named this “ruh” because through it beneficial life is obtained. Life without it does not benefit its possessor at all. Rather the life of a dumb animal is better than it and safer in outcome. (This phrase “that” is missing from the base manuscript.)

The ruh was called ruh because the body’s life is by it. Likewise, the wind was called rih because life is by it. This word is from a root with waw, and for that reason it is collected as arwah. The poet said:

إِذَا هَبَّتِ الأَرْوَاحُ مِنْ نَحْوِ أَرْضِكُمْ
بِهَا أَهْلُ مِيٍّ هَاجَ شَوْقِي هُبُوبُهَا

“If the arwah blow from the direction of your land
where the people of my love dwell, their breeze stirs my longing.”

(The muhaqiq said he did not find the verse exactly in this form. The verse that they mention as proof that rih is collected as arwah is the verse of Dhu r Rummah, from a poem in his Diwan 694: “When the arwah blow from the direction of a land that has a beloved, the blowing of that breeze stirs my longing.” See an Nukat wal Uyun 1/217 and Durat al Ghawwas 190. In al Ashbah wan Naza’ir by the Khalidiyyin 1/82, before the verse of Dhu r Rummah, there is the saying of another: “When the wind from the land of the Hijaz blows, I find coolness upon my liver from its travelling.” This is attributed to Ali Ibn Alqamah and others. See its sources in al Ashbah and in al Hamasa al Basriyyah 1179. It seems that the verse that the author quotes is made up from the second half of this verse and the first half of the verse of Dhu r Rummah: “When the arwah blow from the direction of your land, I find coolness upon my liver from its travelling.”)

From this same root comes ruh, riyah and istirahah. So the nafs was called ruh because life is obtained through it.

It was called nafs either from nafis, which is something precious, because of its preciousness and nobility, or from tanaffus, the going out of breath. Because of how often it goes out and enters into the body, it was called nafs.

From this root is nafas, with movement on its middle letter. Whenever the servant sleeps, it goes out from him, and when he wakes it returns to him. When he dies, it goes out a complete going out. When he is buried, it returns to him. When he is questioned, it goes out. When he is resurrected, it returns to him. So the difference between nafs and ruh is a difference of attributes, not a difference of essence.

Blood was called nafs because its going out, in the way that brings death, always goes together with the going out of the nafs, and life is not complete without it, just as it is not complete without the nafs. For this reason he said:

تَسِيلُ عَلَى حَدِّ الظُّبَاتِ نُفُوسُنَا
وَلَيْسَتْ عَلَى غَيْرِ الظُّبَاتِ تَسِيلُ

“Our nufus flow along the edges of the blades,
and they do not flow upon anything other than their sharp edges.”

That is, our blood flows upon the sword edges and not upon anything else.

It is said: “His nafs overflowed,” and: “His nafs came out,” just as it is said: “His ruh came out,” and “His ruh departed.” However, fayd means rushing forth all at once. From this comes ifadah, which is pouring forth in abundance and with speed.

Afaada means he poured forth by his own choice and will. Faada means it poured forth by compulsion and force. Allah, the Exalted, is the One who causes it to pour forth at death, so it pours forth.

A group from the people of hadith, fiqh and tasawwuf said that the ruh is other than the nafs. Muqatil Ibn Sulayman said: for the human there is life, a ruh, and a nafs. When he sleeps, his nafs that he does actions by goes out, without the body being left. It goes out like a cord stretched out that has a light.

By this nafs he sees dreams. Life and ruh remain in the body, and by them he turns and breathes. If he moves, it returns to him faster than the blink of an eye. When Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, wants to make him die in his sleep, He holds back that nafs. (The muhaqiq says he did not find the statement of Muqatil. It is likely that the author took it from the book an Nafs war Ruh by Ibn Mandah. It resembles what Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Ibn Abbas, that he said: in the inside of a person there is a nafs and a ruh. Between them is like the ray of the sun. Allah takes the nafs during sleep and leaves the ruh in his inside, moving and living. When Allah wants to take him, He takes the ruh and he dies, and if He delays his time He returns the nafs to its place inside him. As Suyuti transmitted the statement of Muqatil from this book in Sharh as Sudur 416.)

He also said: when he sleeps, his nafs goes out and rises up. When it sees the dream, it returns and informs the ruh. The ruh informs the heart, so in the morning he knows that he has seen such and such.

Abu Abdullah Ibn Mandah said: they then differed about knowing the ruh and the nafs. Some of them said: the nafs is earthy and fiery, and the ruh is full of light and belongs to the unseen realm. Some said: the ruh is from the realm of loftiness and the nafs is from the realm of humanness, and creation is tested by it.

Some said, and these are the people of tradition: the ruh is other than the nafs, and the nafs is other than the ruh.

The nafs exists through the ruh. The nafs is the person’s form. Desire, appetite and trial are mixed into it. No enemy is more harmful to the son of Adam than his own nafs. The nafs only wants this life, and loves only it, while the ruh calls towards the next life and prefers it. Desire is attached to the nafs, and shaytan is with the nafs and desire, and the angel is with the mind.

Allah, the Exalted, supports both of them with His inspiration and His granting of success. Some said: the arwah are from the command of Allah. He has hidden their reality and knowledge from creation. Some said: the arwah are light from the light of Allah, and life from the life given by Allah.

They then differed as to whether the arwah die with the death of the bodies and nufus, or whether they do not die.

A group said: the arwah do not die and do not decay.

A group said: the arwah are in the forms of their possessors, and they have hands, feet, eyes, hearing, sight and tongues.

A group said: the believer has 3 arwah and the hypocrite and the disbeliever have 1 ruh.

Some said: the arwah are spiritual beings created from the realm of the unseen. When they become pure, they return to the unseen realm.

I say: as for the ruh that is taken in death and seized, it is one ruh, which is the nafs. As for what Allah supports His friends with of ruh, that is another ruh, other than this ruh, as He, the Exalted, said:

أُولَٰئِكَ كَتَبَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَأَيَّدَهُم بِرُوحٍ مِّنْهُ ۝
“They are those in whose hearts He has written faith, and He has supported them with a ruh from Him.” (al Mujadilah 22)

Likewise the ruh with which He supported His ruh Isa Ibn Maryam, as He, the Exalted, said:

إِذْ قَالَ اللَّهُ يَا عِيسَى ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ اذْكُرْ نِعْمَتِي عَلَيْكَ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَتِكَ إِذْ أَيَّدتُّكَ بِرُوحِ الْقُدُسِ ۝
“When Allah said: O Isa, son of Maryam, remember My favour upon you and upon your mother, when I supported you with Ruh al Qudus.” (al Ma’idah 110)

Likewise the ruh that He casts upon whom He wills from His servants is other than the ruh that is in the body.

As for the powers that are in the body, they are also called arwah. It is said: the seeing ruh, the hearing ruh, the smelling ruh.

These arwah are powers placed in the bodies. They die with the death of the bodies. They are other than the ruh that does not die with the death of the body and does not decay as the body decays.

The word ruh is also used for something more specific than all that. This is the power of knowing Allah, turning to Him, loving Him, and the rising of one’s resolve to seek Him and desire Him.

The relation of this ruh to the ruh is like the relation of the ruh to the body. When the ruh loses this, it is like the body when it loses its ruh. This is the ruh by which He supports the people of His friendship and obedience.

For this reason people say: “So and so has ruh in him,” and: “So and so has no ruh in him,” and: “He is empty,” and: “He is like a hollow reed,” and similar expressions.

For knowledge there is a ruh, for ihsan there is a ruh, for sincerity there is a ruh, for love and turning back to Allah there is a ruh, and for reliance and truthfulness there is a ruh.

People differ greatly in these arwah. Some of them are dominated by these arwah, and they become spiritual in nature. Some of them lose these arwah or most of them, and they become like creatures of the earth, like animals. Allah is the One whose help is sought.

On Whether The Nafs Is One Or Three

As for this issue, it is whether the nafs is one, or 3.

It appears in the speech of many people that the son of Adam has 3 nufus: a tranquil nafs, a blaming nafs, and a nafs that commands to evil. T

hey say that among people is one over whom this nafs dominates, and among them is one over whom the other dominates.

They use as proof His saying, the Exalted:

يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ۝
“O tranquil nafs.” (al Fajr 27)

And His saying:

لَا أُقْسِمُ بِيَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ ۝ وَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالنَّفْسِ اللَّوَّامَةِ ۝
“I swear by the Day of Resurrection, and I swear by the blaming nafs.” (al Qiyamah 1–2)

And His saying:

إِنَّ النَّفْسَ لَأَمَّارَةٌ بِالسُّوءِ ۝
“Indeed the nafs certainly commands to evil.” (Yusuf 53)

The correct conclusion is that it is one nafs, but it has different attributes, so it is named by each attribute with its own name.

It is called “tranquil” because of its tranquillity with its Lord, through worship of Him, love of Him, turning back to Him, reliance upon Him, contentment with Him, and rest in Him. When the mark of His love, fear and hope appears upon it, it becomes cut off from love of anything else, fear of anything else and hope in anything else.

It becomes cut off through love of Him from love of what is besides Him, through remembering Him from remembering what is besides Him, and through longing for Him and meeting Him from longing for what is besides Him. (From the start of this issue up to this point is what the commentator on at Tahawiyyah transmitted 389–390. Compare it with the words of the author in Ighathat al Lahfan 1/75 and what follows.)

Tranquillity with Allah, the Exalted, is a state that comes from Him to the heart of His servant. It gathers him upon Him and brings back his wandering heart to Him, until it is as if he sits in front of Him, hearing by Him, seeing by Him, moving by Him and striking by Him. That tranquillity then spreads through his nafs, his heart, his joints, and his apparent and hidden powers, so that his ruh is drawn towards Allah. His skin, heart and joints soften towards serving Him and drawing near to Him.

True tranquillity cannot be obtained except with Allah and His remembrance. His remembrance is His words that He sent down upon His Messenger, as He, the Exalted, said:

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَتَطْمَئِنُّ قُلُوبُهُم بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۝ أَلَا بِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ تَطْمَئِنُّ الْقُلُوبُ ۝
“Those who believe and whose hearts find tranquillity in the remembrance of Allah. Indeed, in the remembrance of Allah hearts find tranquillity.” (ar Ra’d 28)

The tranquillity of the heart is its stillness and rest, its stability through the removal of anxiety, agitation and disturbance. This cannot be reached through anything other than Allah and His remembrance at all. As for whatever is besides Him, tranquillity in it and by it is deception, and reliance upon it is weakness.

Allah, the Exalted, has decreed a decree that will never be pushed back: whoever finds tranquillity in something other than Him will have anxiety, agitation and disturbance come to him from that very thing, whatever it may be.

Rather, if the servant finds tranquillity in his own knowledge, condition and action, that will be taken away from him and will depart from him.

He has made the nufus of those who find tranquillity in other than Him targets for the arrows of trial, so that He may make clear to His servants and His friends that the one who attaches his heart to other than Him is cut off, and the one who finds tranquillity in other than Him is turned away and prevented from his true benefits and aims.

The reality of the tranquillity by which the nafs becomes tranquil is that it becomes tranquil, in the matter of knowing His names, His attributes and His descriptions of perfection, with the report that He has given of Himself and that His messengers have reported from Him.

So it receives that with acceptance, submission, yielding, openness of chest and joy of heart, for this is one of the ways in which the Lord, the Exalted, makes Himself known to His servant upon the tongue of His Messenger.

The heart remains in the greatest anxiety and disturbance in this matter until belief in the names of the Lord, the Exalted, His attributes, His oneness, His being above His Throne and His speaking with revelation, mixes with the delight of the heart.

Then this revelation descends upon him like cool water upon a heart burning with thirst, so he finds tranquillity with it, rests with it, rejoices in it and his heart and his joints soften towards it, until it is as if he sees the matter exactly as the messengers reported it. Rather, it becomes for his heart like seeing the sun in the middle of the day for his eye.

If everyone from the east of the earth to its west were to oppose him in that, he would not pay attention to their opposition.

If he feels lonely because he is a stranger among people, he says: the greatest truthful one, Abu Bakr, was tranquil with belief by himself when all the people of the earth opposed him, and that did not reduce his tranquillity in the least.

This is the first degree of tranquillity. Then it continues to grow stronger every time he hears a verse that contains one of the attributes of his Lord. This is a matter with no limit. This tranquillity is one of the foundations of faith upon which its structure stands.

Then he finds tranquillity with His report about what comes after death of the affairs of the barzakh and what comes after that of the conditions of the Resurrection, until it is as if he sees all of that in front of his eye.

This is the reality of certainty which He, the Exalted, described the people of belief with when He said:

وَبِالْآخِرَةِ هُمْ يُوقِنُونَ ۝
“And they are certain of the Hereafter.” (al Baqarah 4)

Faith in the Hereafter is not obtained until the heart finds tranquillity with what Allah, the Exalted, has informed about it, with the same tranquillity that it has towards matters which it does not doubt or hesitate about. This is the one who truly believes in the Last Day.

This is like the hadith of Harithah, who said: “I woke in the morning as a true believer.” The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to him: “Every truth has a reality, so what is the reality of your belief?”

He said: “I have turned my nafs away from the universe and its people. It is as if I see the Throne of my Lord clearly, and as if I see the people of Paradise visiting one another in it, and as if I see the people of the Fire being punished in it.”

He said: “This is a servant whose heart Allah has filled with light.” (Al Bazzar reported this hadith in his Musnad 6948, and al Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al Iman 10589, through the route of Yusuf Ibn Atiyyah from Thabit from Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ met a man called Harithah in one of the paths of Madinah and said: “How did you wake up, O Harithah?” He said: “I woke up as a true believer,” and so on with a similar wording. Al Bayhaqi has it in a longer wording, and he named him Harithah Ibn an Nu’man. Al Hafiz said in al Isabah in the biography of al Harith Ibn Malik al Ansari 2/394: he is very weak, and he quoted from al Bayhaqi that he said: this is objectionable, and Yusuf confused it, as he sometimes said “al Harith” and sometimes “Harithah”.

From this route al Aqeeli reported it in ad Du’afa 4/455 in the biography of Yusuf Ibn Atiyyah, and he quoted from al Bukhari that he said about him: “He is objectionable in hadith,” and from Ibn Ma’in that he said: “He is nothing.” He said after the hadith: there is no chain for this hadith that can be relied upon.

It has also been reported with interrupted and defective chains, some of which al Hafiz mentioned in al Isabah. It has been reported with a connected chain from another route by at Tabarani in al Mu’jam al Kabir 3367 and by al Bayhaqi in Shu’ab al Iman 10592, through the route of Ibn Luhay’ah from Khalid Ibn Yazid as Saksaki from Sa’id Ibn Abi Hilal from Muhammad Ibn Abi al Juhm from al Harith Ibn Malik al Ansari, that he passed by the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and he said to him: “How did you wake up, O Harith?” and so on.

Al Haythami said in Majma’ az Zawa’id 1/57: in its chain is Ibn Luhay’ah, and in it is someone who needs to be researched, and he probably meant Muhammad Ibn Abi al Juhm.

He was listed among the Companions by mistake, as al Hafiz Ibn Hajar pointed out when he mentioned him in the fourth section of al Isabah 8546, saying: “Muhammad Ibn Abi al Juhm: Muhammad Ibn Uthman Ibn Abi Shaybah listed him among the lesser Companions, and Abu Nu’aym mentioned him and said: I do not see that as correct.

The muhaqiq says: rather he is from the followers of the followers. He reported a hadith and sent it, and some of its narrators made a mistake in one of its words.” Then he distinguished him from Muhammad Ibn Abi al Juhm Ibn Hudhayfah al Adawi, who is mentioned in al Jarh wat Ta’dil 7/224 and elsewhere. So he is unknown. Al Hafiz al Iraqi weakened both routes in al Mughni ‘an Haml al Asfar 3991. The note “Qalami” is the personal note of the scribe.)

Kitāb al-Rūḥ by Ibn al-Qayyim page 613–627